Rugby – Edinburgh v Connacht, Guinness PRO14

Being, as we are, in the middle of the Six Nations, this match would be a test of squad depth, as much as anything, as Connacht made the trip from wet and wild West Ireland to, the equally, wet and wild West side of Edinburgh as the teams lined up for their Round 12, Guinness PRO14 match at BT Murrayfield.

Getting underway in the
gusty wind and swirling rain, it wasn’t long before the match ground
to hault in a portent of things to come. A collision in open play
lead to long delay as the doctor’s teams got to work to treat
Connacht’s Finlay Bealham, before retiring the lock to the medical
room.

Simon Hickey’s kicking was outstanding in the tricky conditions.

Once play got back
underway, it was another couple of minutes before the scoreboard was
threatened when Simon Hickey slotted home a penalty to take the home
side into a 3-0 lead after nine minutes. The conditions dictated that
the kicker needed the ball held on the tee, and this was to be a
feature for the remainder of the match.

The following 10
minutes, or so, then set the tone as a series of breakdowns and reset
scrums was interrupted by the odd period of open play.

The next score, again
came the way of Hickey’s boot in the 20^th minute as the
stand-off scored his second penalty for 6-0.

Then the first try.
Turning over ball in their own half, the home side were quickly on
the offensive and made ground against Connacht’s attacking-set
defence. Once in the 22, the ball was popped up and centre, Matt
Scott, was on hand to collect the pass and smash through.

The very active, Eroni Sau saw yellow late in the match for his tip tackle late on.

He then charged the
remaining distance to the line, crashing over under the posts.
Initially, the TMO was asked to check the grounding, but as the
replays replayed – seemingly endlessly – the grounding became
less of an issue and a high tackle became the focus.

The decision was,
eventually, made and a high tackle it was, resulting in a penalty try
and a yellow card for the visitors’ Jack Carty. So, 24 minutes in and
it was 13-0 to Edinburgh.

Connacht then enjoyed
another period of possession. This came to naught, but then the match
came alive.

Regaining possession,
Edinburgh’s Simon Berghan made a long break down the right before
being dragged down, but the loose ball was hacked through and into
the goal area. Unfortunately, for the hosts, the ball just beat
Edinburgh’s two chasers to the dead ball line.

As the half hour –
although it felt like ‘the hour’ – mark passed, Edinburgh kicked for
touch from a midfield penalty. The pack now had their chance and a
series of rucks and pick-and-goes across the front of the line lead
to Berghan, eventually, driving through for a try.

Once again, Hickey was
good for the kick and it was now 20-0.

Connacht’s pack do the hard work before O’Halloran – hovering on the right with the yellow boots – stole their thunder with the try

As the first half
ground to a close, Connacht had worked their way into Edinburgh’s 22
and it was their forwards’ turn to come up with the goods. In a
replay of the hosts’ try a few minutes earlier, it was, however, the
backs who won through as Tiernan O’Halloran stole the glory with his
try. Carty then kicked the conversion for 20-7 at the break.

The first try of the second half came the way of the visitors again. In what was now very much a rucking-and-mauling game as opposed to a running-and-passing one, their pack replayed their replay and drove through for their second try, O’Halloran, again, stealing the pack’s thunder and Carty, again, adding the extras for 20-14 just before 50 minutes played.

A bit of running-and-passing then ensued as, back in possession, Man-of-the-Match to-be, Pierre Schoeman made some ground mid-field, followed a few seconds later by Bill Mata – the lock crashing through bodies to get dangerously close to the line.

The following pack then
piled in and proceeded to get back to the job in hand, Schoeman
coming up with the goods as he burrowed through a pile of bodies to
dot down under the posts. Hickey then supplied another two points and
it was 27-14 just before the – actual – hour mark.

Then Edinburgh’s back division were granted a try via the, ever present, Duhan van der Merwe. Recycled ball around half way was sent through the hands and the final pass from George Taylor out to van der Merwe sent the winger on his way.

Tearing up the touch
line, he was, eventually, tackled just short, but, at 6′ 4” and 16 ½
stones, he takes a lot of stopping. A bit of a pile up over the line
and a lot of wriggling later, it was 32-14. Which was soon 34-14 as
Hickey kicked the incredibly difficult conversion from the touch
line.

Duhan van der Merwe on his way to his sixth try of the season

With less than 10
minutes to go, Edinburgh’s Eroni Sau was carded for a tip tackle,
leaving the home side to finish the match with 14 men. Or, so it
appeared…

A ‘bit of a scuffle’
between the packs, a couple of minutes later, escalated into a bit
more of a scuffle, which eventually ended with one of each side
seeing yellow and a penalty for Edinburgh. So, 13 v 14…

Line out won, held up
over the line – scrum. And another penalty try as the visitors
couldn’t hold Edinburgh’s drive and collapsed to ‘award’ the try.
With two minutes left, it was now 41-14.

That wasn’t quite the
end, as replacement scrum half, Charlie Shiel made a break up the
middle only to be tripped up mid side-step by Connacht’s Conor
Fitzgerald in a desperate, if unfortunate, attempt to prevent try
number 6.

Sheiel has his left peg swiped out from under him as Fitzgerald ‘claims’ his yellow

His yellow made it
13-13 for the final few seconds as Edinburgh fiddled about a bit to
let the clock run down before booting the ball off the field to seal
the match 41-14 and cement their top-of-the-table spot in Conference
‘B’.

Images from the match will appear here over the next few days.